March 5, 2012

LOS ANGELES - The LMU men's and women's rowing teams went head-to-head against crosstown rivals on Saturday at Ballona Creek in Marina Del Rey. The Lion men swept a trio of races against USC while the women turned in some of their fastest times in recent years against UCLA.

"Both of our teams had a very solid racing," said LMU Director of Rowing Vaclav Kacir. "I am stoked for thee men of LMU to start the season with a win. They showed a lot of composure and decided their races in the second half. On the women's side, we made another step, but it was not enough to beat a very talented UCLA team. Even though we lost the girls showed significant improvement. I am looking forward to our next races."

LMU and the Trojans went head-to-head with their novice eight, varsity four "A" and varsity four "B" boats. The Lions' novice eight finished the 2000m course in 6:04.0, followed by USC's "A" boat in 6:20.0 and USC's "B" boat in 6:55.0.

The two varsity four races were tighter as LMU won the "A" race by seven seconds and the "B" race by five.

"It was a great way to start the spring racing season," said LMU assistant coach Tom Paradiso. "All three boats had races that were not decided until the second half of the race, a sign that our fitness is good, but we still have some work to do. We have a short week ahead before we face our neighbor rivals UCLA and we will be working to continue to get faster this week."

On the women's side, LMU's varsity eight and varsity four both turned in times faster than any mark since the Lions won the 2006 WCC Championship. The varsity eight finished in 6:24.8, just behind the Bruins' 6:06.1 finish. LMU's varsity four also gave UCLA a battle, finishing less than eight seconds behind in 7:01.6. LMU's junior varsity eight rowed a 6:51.5, finishing runner-up to the Bruins in 6:08.7.

"Our girls have made unbelievable strides in the last six months," said LMU women's assistant coach Katelin Snyder. "UCLA is one of the fastest teams in the country and we closed the gap from 33 seconds last year to 18 this weekend. I am also so proud of how the JV boat raced - they are learning how to push themselves with internal motivation, which is something that will give them a tremendous advantage this spring. Both boats threw down really fast times, and still have so much room to improve. I am extremely proud and excited to be working with these young women."

Both Lion squads return to their home course Saturday, March 10 at 8 a.m. The women' will host San Diego State in a dual meet while the men, hosting their LMUat100 Centennial Celebration meet, face UCLA.

LMU MEN'S LINEUPS/RESULTS
Novice 8
(cox) Allie Shorin
8: Jeremy Burke
7: Michael Moreheart
6: Lenny Turcios
5: Caleb Nyberg
4: Theo Jacobson
3: Mark Laurence
2: Jordan Lang
Bow: Chris Wonder

LMU: 6:04.0
USC A: 6:20.0
USC B: 6:55.0

Varsity 4 "A"
(cox) Jennifer Sonnier
4: Kawai Thomas
3: Brendan Henderson
2: Robert Thames
Bow: Brett Beuttner

LMU: 6:36.0
USC: 6:43.0

Varsity 4 "B"
(cox) Allie Shorin
4: Bobby Brennan
3: Bo Breitreid
2: Mark Lawrence
Bow: Jovan Flores

LMU : 6:53.0
USC : 7:08.0

LMU WOMEN'S LINEUPS/RESULTS

Varsity 8 - Kellyn Freire, Sydney Sutton-Liswith, Shannon Craig, Kat Regan, Margaret Boze, Jessica Kegel, Chris Erhart, Hanna Osborne, Leanne McNamee
UCLA: 6:06.1
LMU: 6:24.8

JV 8 - Jen Koester, Harriet Russell, Ku'ulei Lake, Kelsey Dunbar, P.K Carey-Jones, Jill Dannis, Danielle Ciraulo, Kat Wikholm, Paulina Lindstedt
UCLA: 6:08.7
LMU: 6:51.5

V4 - lineup unavailable
UCLA 6:53.2
LMU 7:01.6

- GO LIONS -